Bicinium is a low-budget, commercial RPG in the Eastern RPG style by ccoa.
You can choose to play the game as Aria Nocturne, the Evil Overlord's Beautiful Daughter or as Duo, the orphaned shop boy who is mistaken for the hero through a clerical error.
The playable characters are:
Duo
Duo's parents were killed by monsters when he was a boy. He's currently works for Mr. Clef at the local item store. He's close friends with the Hero's sister, Cadence. Due to a clerical error, he's been saddled with the job of saving the world, quite against his will.
Cadence
The hero's little sister. She's an old hat at the whole "being held hostage for the mystical artifact" gig. Her brother is always out on adventures, so she views Duo as a surrogate big brother in his absence. Cadence is only playable in Duo's quest.
Aria
Aria has just been kicked out of her third boarding school of evil heirs, and may only be able to go to minion tech next year. She's determined to prove to her father she really does have what it takes to be the next evil overlord. She is quite childish and her plans often go awry.
Rallen
Lord Nocturne's second in command and the one responsible for seeing that his plans go off without a hitch. He has recently been placed in charge of keeping Aria out of trouble while the Dark Lord executes the finishing touches on his plans for world domination, a duty he considers a punishment. He is a foil for Aria's more childish behavior and is only playable in Aria's Quest.
This game provides examples of the following tropes:
- Combos: Each character has combo trees they can unlock, which are performed using certain keypresses.
- The Comically Serious: Rallen.
- Evil Is Not a Toy: Lord Nocturne's plans to summon and absorb a dying dark god do not go as planned.
- Golden Thigh Ratio: Aria and Cadence's costume designs.
- Hammerspace: Both Aria and Cadence materialize their weapons from nowhere on battle open and close.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Aria, in Duo's quest. At least, before her Heel–Face Turn.
- Musical Theme Naming: Everyone in the game, and even the name of the game itself.
- Pre-existing Encounters: All monsters are represented as sprites on the map, although not all are avoidable. They only respawn when you visit a town.
- Relationship Values: Determines the ending scenes to a small degree.
- Villain Protagonist: Aria, in her own quest.
